Abdilaahi ‘23 Expanding Use of Multifaith Room

As an observant Muslim, Abdilaahi prays five times a day and her shared dorm room was not ideal. She was among a core group of students who worked with Chaplain Barksdale to make a Multifaith Room a reality.

Chatham Hall’s Multifaith Room opened in November 2021. Formerly known as the Keystone Room on the lower floor of Dabney, it now offers the School community a sacred place where people of all faiths and religious traditions can pray, meditate, and engage in other spiritual activities. It adjoins the lower floor restroom in Dabney for easy access to water, which is especially helpful for rituals that involve hand and foot washing.

“The Multifaith Room is always available to members of our community, and I want to encourage other students to use it every day, to feel welcomed to practice their religions,” said Abdilaah. 

Abdilaahi is a second year student in Chatham Hall’s Global Entrepreneurism program and is required to launch a project or program that has measurable benefit to our community. After exploring the intersection of faith and social entrepreneurship with Chaplain Barksdale, who also directs the School’s entrepreneurship program, Abdilaahi had a clear vision of what she wanted to accomplish.  Her business plan to increase use of the Multifaith Room was just approved.

As a first step, Abdilaahi identified additional prayer tools and resources needed by current members of our community to make the Multifaith Room more usable. Now she is working on a bulletin board for the room to display all of the holidays observed by each religion present on campus.  This board will also feature weekly prayers submitted by members of our community. She will also put together a roster of students and faculty members who will lead weekly meditation sessions in the room, and another schedule of those who will lead weekly prayer walks around campus. 

“I want all students to feel okay practicing their religion here,” she said. “To me, the success of this room is seeing more people of different religions use it, whether that is for a meditation session or for prayer on their own. I also think students who are able to practice their faith can deepen their faith. At the end of the semester, I will survey the student body to see if these new offerings and practices have helped them spiritually. Because I am a senior, I am also seeking a partner who will help lead these activities next year.”